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LITTLE COTTONWOOD CANYON — A male climber was flown to a hospital in serious condition after he fell while climbing at Coalpit Gulch with friends Monday afternoon, police said.
Emergency crews responded to a report of a fall on the trail about 1:23 p.m., said Unified Police Sgt. Melody Gray. She said the climber fell and hit his head. The climber was wearing a helmet when he fell but was still hurt in the fall.
The climber was on a route known as Stiffler's Mom, Salt Lake County Sheriff's Search and Rescue officials said on Facebook. He was the lead climber in a group, and fell 60-70 feet when his cam, a climbing device, pulled out, officials said.
The climber fell upside down and slammed into a wall near where his belay partner and wife were standing, officials said. He had injuries to his head and back. He was hanging upside-down for about 30 minutes before some other climbing groups helped turn him around, officials said.
A Department of Public Safety helicopter crew was able to locate him and fly him to a location where Life Flight was located, who then took the man to a hospital, Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Todd Royce said. The climber's name and age were not immediately released.
Contributing: Jacob Klopfenstein
Editor's note: This has been corrected to show that the Life Flight took the man to the hospital and not the DPS helicopter as originally written.
